Who We are

Rand Alotaibi is a junior from Saudi Arabia majoring in Earth and Ocean Sciences with a certificate in Documentary Studies. On campus, she is involved with Duke SOA, Injaz and Duke Arab Association.

Jeremy Carballo is a sophomore studying public policy, political theory, and human rights. On campus, he is involved in GANO, Students for Education Reform, Chronicle Editorial Board, and Duke Worker’s Alliance. He is passionate about immigration, social, and economic policy.

Andrew Carlins is a junior from Oceanside, NY studying Economics, History and Ethics and Society. He is an intelligent, handsome and incredibly modest individual with a witty sense of humor. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys spending time with his residents in Jarvis, learning languages and writing.

Madeleine is a senior from Reston, VA majoring in Public Policy Studies with a certificate in Human Rights and minor in History. At Duke, she has tailored her academic trajectory to understanding how to advance human rights at the intersection of community empowerment, immigration, law, data, and technology. Following college, she hopes to attend law school and work towards developing the underexplored field of data privacy, accountability, and regulation while continuing to empower Latinx communities across the country. In her free time, you can either find her salsa dancing or choreographing for Duke Sabrosura’s Latin dance team, singing with Duke Deja Blue a capella, writing poetry, listening to the Daily, or meditating. She is so excited to be a part of the Rights Writers team and have the opportunity to delve deeper into an increasingly relevant topic as technology bounds forwards at an ever exponential rate, leaving so many questions surrounding the ramifications for human rights.

Rishi Dasgupta is completely undecided on what he wants to study, but he tells people he is a prospective neuroscience major. He loves cooking and trying new things, and his best friend is his golden retriever, Luna. 

Kate is a junior from Chatham, New Jersey. She is majoring in public policy with minors in history and sociology. She also volunteers as a Launch Lab mentor at Kenan. Kate is interested in restorative justice because it focuses on addressing harm rather than ineffective punishment. Last summer, Kate conducted research on the juvenile justice system in New Jersey, so she is especially interested in the power of restorative justice in juvenile justice spaces. She is excited to help spread restorative justice on campus and build stronger communities!

Ale is a junior from Miami, FL. She is studying Public Policy and Education with plans to teach after graduation (in Durham hopefully!) before doing a master’s in education policy. She’s interested in restorative justice work because she’s used it in classroom settings – such as this summer while teaching at StudentU, Durham based education nonprofit – and can attest to the fact that it changes the dynamic in the community and the relationships that are fostered. She believes restorative frameworks acknowledge people’s agency and freedom, strives to create authentic, inclusive communities, and repairs harm in a way where multiple perspectives are involved. She hopes it continues to spread into more classrooms so that we aren’t tearing down our students, but building up supportive, understanding communities of learners.

Zachary is a Sophomore from Los Angeles, CA studying Environmental Sciences and Policy and Neuroscience. On campus, he is a volunteer for the Duke Puppy Kindergarten, a Duke tour guide, and participates in various activities through Jewish Life at Duke. Zach is interested in how RJ can be used in Duke policy guidelines in addressing harm scenarios on campus, as well as spreading the process throughout Duke in order to create a more diverse RJ community.

Thomas Huck is a sophomore at Duke, planning to study Political Science, Computer Science, and Philosophy. Originally from Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Thomas discovered his interest in ethics through his experience as a Boy Scout and in high school. In his free time, Thomas enjoys hiking and poetry.

Ali is a sophomore from Dallas, TX. She is studying Biology and African American Studies, with hopes of attending law school and working in criminal justice reform. Through her work with Kenan, she hopes to assist many factions of the Duke community in community building and promote unity on campus. As a part of the RJ committee on the Sexual Assault Prevention Team on campus, she is also working to incorporate RJ practices to address harm within the Greek community. When she isn’t doing schoolwork or participating in campus organizations, Ali likes to read, hike, and listen to music.

Carolyn Huynh a junior from Dallas, Texas, and is an alumna of Project Change. She is considering co-majoring in Global Health and Neuroscience and is interested in the field of integrative medicine. You can usually find her drinking coffee at Vondy, watching Worth It Buzzfeed videos, or doing both at the same time.

Isabel is a senior majoring in Political Science with a concentration in Security, Peace, and Conflict Studies. On campus, she is involved in the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy, runs the Duke Moot Court team, and competes with Duke Debate. Last Summer, Isabel interned at the Institute for the Study of War. She is originally from Detroit, Michigan and plans to move to DC to work in foreign policy after graduation. Isabel speaks Romanian and French. Her blog posts will deal with the intersection of post-conflict reconstruction and human rights through a series of case studies on effective and ineffective models of ethnic and sectarian power sharing

JJ is a sophomore from Toronto, Canada, majoring in Economics with minors in Psychology and Sociology. She loves learning about consumer psychology, decision science, and ethical technology. Some of her favourite hobbies include thrifting, cooking and watching crime TV shows.

Chris is a junior from Rome, GA. He is a history major and chemistry minor following the pre-health track. He is interested in the ways that the humanities can be included in spaces they are traditionally not addressed, such as medicine. He already uses restorative justice for community building in his organizations, and looks forward to exploring ways it can be introduced into student groups’ policy for addressing harms caused by members. 

Justin is a junior from Irvine, CA majoring in Public Policy and minoring in History and Statistics. In his studies at Duke, he has explored deeply the relationship between race and national origin and their effects on human rights and the distribution of policy outcomes. In his spare time, Justin is heavily involved in the music scene at Duke. He is a cellist in the Duke Symphony Orchestra and also produces Hip-Hop/House music for Small Town Records. Upon graduating, Justin hopes to pursue a career in corporate social responsibility.

Maya is a freshman who was born in Denmark but grew up in the Boston area. She is considering a major in International Comparative Studies with a minor in Environmental Policy and a certificate in Human Rights. She is currently in the Ethics, Leadership, and Global Citizenship Focus Cluster where she is involved with Launch Lab through the Kenan Refugee Project. She is also a Green Devil working with the Sustainable Duke office and an executive on the activism committee for the Duke American Sign Language Club. In her free time, you can find Maya out sailing, hiking, or at the rock wall in Wilson Gym. She is excited to be writing about the intersection of immigration and human rights in the United States.

Kyle Melatti is a sophomore and future public policy and economics double major interested in ethics and ethical decision making as a part of the political process. He currently serves as a Senator for Duke Student Government on the Committee for Durham and Regional Affairs and also has a secondary appointment to the Senate Judiciary Committee. In his free time, he attends talks and presentations offered by the University to learn more about the issues going on in the world and what can be done to help. 

Charlotte is a Freshmen from London, UK who loves to sing and beat random GA residents at Ping-Pong. She is passionate about Women’s and Human Rights.

Arya is a Sophomore from Charlotte, North Carolina studying Public Policy and Economics. She has participated in various Kenan programs including the Focus Program, the Kenan Refugee Project and Project Change. She is particularly interested in Restorative Justice because of the power it has to strengthen communities and its humanistic approach. Arya is interested in the impacts of development programs for third world countries dealing with economic, social and cultural changes. Outside of school, Arya enjoys reading historical fiction, painting, and hanging out with friends.

Miriam Shams-Rainey is a first-year student from Dallas, Texas. She is an alumna of Project Change and is currently in the Ethics, Leadership, and Global Citizenship FOCUS program with academic interests ranging from social policy to music theory. Miriam enjoys writing poetry, thrift shopping, and trying to play pop songs on the violin. She is very excited to be a part of Team Kenan and to examine ethics in the Duke and Durham communities.

Lukengu Tshiteya hails from Dallas, TX. He loves eating cucumbers and completing jigsaw puzzles. He is excited to make a difference at Duke and in the Durham community. 

Audrey is a junior from Seattle, WA. She is majoring in Public Policy with minors in history and political science, and she is interest in both domestic policy and international human rights. On campus, she is involved with the Community Empowerment Fund addressing housing instability in Durham. She hopes to use Restorative Justice to create more community within the groups she is involved with and on campus as a whole. As a trained RJ facilitator, she has seen the powerful presence RJ has within community and hopes to increase its use at duke. She also is interested in how restorative justice can be used within the US criminal justice system.

Liyu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but was raised in Montgomery, AL. She uses she/her/hers pronouns. She is majoring in Public Policy and wants to receive the Human Rights Certificate. On campus, she is a Baldwin Scholar and works for the Outreach committee to design meaningful service work. She is the Vice President of Duke NAACP, Head of Content for The Bridge, and Programming Chair for Duke Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Transnational Alliance (DESTA). She also works at the Center for Human Rights at the Franklin Humanities Institute. She is interested in social justice and in using the intersectionality framework to make policy decisions and evaluations. After spending her summer in Kauai, Hawaii on a DukeEngage project focusing on sustainability, she became interested in the application of intersectionality to climate change and environmental disaster response. Her blog posts will focus on the human rights issues that climate change raises.

Jenny is a junior from Denver, Colorado, majoring in Biology with minors in Global Health and Chemistry. She is a passionate advocate for the right to quality health care and hopes to one day work as a physician in underserved communities around the world. Jenny explores her interests through her research at the Duke Global Health Institute and at KCMC Hospital in Moshi, Tanzania, developing interventions to decrease harmful alcohol use in Tanzania. Jenny is also an EMT with Duke EMS and president of TEDxDuke. In her free time, she enjoys watching documentaries, hiking, and taking falls like a champ while attempting to ski. Jenny believes that words are powerful, and hopes to use her words to facilitate necessary conversations over the implications of international aid on human rights in global health.